GQ Bar to open in Kazakhstan

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Condé Nast International, the publishing house, is using its flagship men’s magazine to style the bar, which will open in the next 12 months in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.

Gary Robinson, Director of Condé Nast International Restaurants, said: “Almaty is an obvious choice for a GQ Bar – there is significant demand from the young professional men of Kazakhstan for an aspirational venue, and we can offer such a space for work and pleasure in its cultural and commercial capital. This is a city with serious staying power, full of excitement and with vast potential – exactly like the GQ man.”

Kazakhstan’s rapid economic growth, averaging about eight per cent between 2000 and 2010, has been driven by foreign investment in the Caspian oil sector. The number of high net worth individuals in Kazakhstan is forecast to increase by 81 per cent in the coming decade, according to the 2013 Wealth Report by Knight Frank Research.

The Central Asian country was made famous by the 2006 “mockumentary” “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”, featuring the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as a fictitious Kazakh journalist travelling through America, filming encounters with US citizens. The film reportedly boosted tourism to the country, with then-Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov claiming the movie had led to a tenfold increase in visas to Kazakhstan issued.

David Cameron faced pressure to address alleged human rights abuses upon visiting the oil and gas-rich state earlier this year. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Prime Minister asking that he “make reference to some of these rights concerns in any public statements you put out during or after your visit, not least so that rights defenders in Kazakhstan are aware that these concerns have been raised.”

The GQ Bar opening, in partnership with Kazakh hospitality group AB Restaurants, follows Condé Nast’s unveiling of restaurants and cafes for its other magazine brands, including the Vogue Café in Dubai, and the Tatler Club in Moscow.